


Bartender and Chess Set

by hermercz



Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Bartender Erik, Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, M/M, Professor Charles Xavier, Protective Raven | Mystique, Stupid Erik, X-Men: First Class (2011)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24006718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hermercz/pseuds/hermercz
Summary: Wednesday was Erik's favourite day because that was the day Charles came to the bar he worked at. For two months he was swooning, Erik unknowingly messed up the Wednesday he loved so much. Oops.
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier, Sean Cassidy/Moira MacTaggert
Comments: 1
Kudos: 43





	Bartender and Chess Set

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I am on the route on brushing back my writing skill so bare with me with the short prompt.  
> I had a number of prompts for Cherik so I'd make it short until I had the energy to make it longer, which is highly possible.

Erik did not like his job.

For a morning person, staying up late till four in the morning did not sound ideal to him. He would always felt like having a hangover without drinking any of those on the racks behind him. Even if he tried to sleep until late noon, his mind would automatically wake him up before the clock strike noon. Erik felt tired like his mind was holding onto a heavyweight metal which the worst one compared to his body.

He also hated the way people – mostly girls which he was not interested at all – flirted at him like he was supposed to be a striper on the street by flashing their assets and sneaking some naughty smile behind the drinks. Erik knew what they had in mind and he simply did not care about them. Most of the phone numbers slide across the bar towards him ended up falling into the trash can on the floor.

He thought that working at his friend’s bar would not be as terrible as being a bartender in the club but apparently, he was proven wrong within an hour of his first shift in the Brotherhood Bar. Erik swore that if the pay was not that good or his apartment was cheaper, he would not bat his eyes on the job. He was supposed to serve the customers their drinks, made the best cocktails and perhaps not to have anyone vomit on the bar because the idea of cleaning someone’s gut was beyond Erik’s comfortness.

But again, none of what the job entailed made him feel comfortable.

However, Erik did not hate his job completely. Not when he had something – _someone –_ to anticipate coming to the bar every Wednesday night.

Erik cleaned the glasses as his eyes stuck on the clock on the wall across the bar, waiting _impatiently_ for someone to appear as he counted the minutes loudly in his mind. He did not realise that he has been cleaning the same glass for a few minutes which made his friend, Azazel laughed as he settled down on a stool in front of him.

“Can you be more obvious?” Azazel cackled, receiving an unamused look from him.

“Funny.” Erik breathed.

“Stop fidgeting.” Emma added as she placed the tray on the bar.

Emma was the waitress of Brotherhood Bar and she worked here long before Erik. She knew a little too much about everything without anyone telling her which was kind of creepy but he did not bother about her much. Just that she wore too much silver-coloured clothes for a waitress of a night bar. _Shinning like a damn diamond_ , she said.

“Maybe your little Charles had an extra class or worse. Time out.” Emma winked playfully, making Azazel laughed a little too loud but they were just opened for the night so there were not many people around yet.

Erik knew that Emma knew that Charles was a professor of Genetics at Columbia University and since he was younger than an age standard of common professor, she has been annoyingly excited with her _child joke_. One time she asked him whether he had booked a place in jail for a paedophile. It would be funny if it was not meant for Erik.

“C’mon, Erik. Cheer up.” Azazel said, followed by the unnecessary slap on his back. “He’d be here soon.”

And like a magical miracle, the person he had been waiting for walked into the bar with his wavy brown soft hair and the blue glimmering eyes looking at him. His red sweet lips like it were stained with wine spread into a smile and making Erik unconsciously reciprocated his smile.

“Sorry, I got held back by my workers. We had dinner together.”

And that beauty had to accompany with a thick sweet silky British accent.

Erik saw from the corner of his eyes that Emma mouthed _extra class_ before she left to attend the new customer walking in after Charles but he ignored her too quick as he attended the beautiful man in front of him. Erik knew Charles’ order by heart. Not because he came here so many times but because it was Charles. He would know everything about the man by heart. So he poured a scotch in a glass and slide it across the bar for him, letting his fingers linger on the glass so their fingers could touch.

Erik smirked when the little hint of pink appeared on Charles’ cheeks. It was not his fault that Charles was so cute, he needed to see the professor smiling happily yet a little shy behind his glass of scotch.

“So you were having dinner with your workers? The professors of your department I’m guessing?” Erik asked, starting a casual conversation like their routine.

The routine Erik loved ever since he had the job as a bartender at the Brotherhood Bar – where Erik started a casual conversation by mentioning the weather or sometimes the old-looking cardigan Charles wore or maybe the topic they had last Wednesday. Then Charles would take the lead by rambling cutely over his research paper, his class, the students and his workmates and his family. Erik hated when people rambling but Azazel said that it was mainly because they were not Charles. Erik said they were not cute.

According to Emma, it was the same.

“Well not really. They were my close friends in Columbia. Did I tell you about Hank and Moira?”

Of course, he had. Charles enjoyed talking and socializing. Something Erik had to disagree with but he could not blame the man for liking a social event because he was simply created for such ridiculous time-wasting event. Everyone would serve their attention on a golden platter anytime for Charles’ cute rambling-like talk. Erik used to wonder if he rambled on his sleep but his sister Raven said otherwise. It was not like Erik needed any reason to stop thinking about the man, especially him in bed.

Erik nodded his head. “Yeah, your ex-TA and psychology professor?”

Charles grinned, feeling too warm over the fact that Erik remembered what he talked about.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“So basically, your only friends.” Erik stifled his laughter when Charles glared at him. _Cutely._

“That’s not true, excuse you, sir. We were having dinner with some of our friends too.”

“Oh really?” Erik leaned forward, propped his elbow on the wooden bar as he smirked at the cute man.

He thanked God for having less customer tonight.

Charles seemed not going to back down when he leaned forward, a little too close to Erik’s face that he could feel his breath on his face but again, neither of them minds that.

“Really.” Charles said. “We had the swimming coach, Alex and his little literature professor brother, Scott. We also had Raven over because we were celebrating that she got a job at one of the big fashion companies.”

Charles was feeling annoyed when Erik hummed to his words as if he did not believe him.

“I’m serious! Don’t give me that look.”

The shark-like grin that screamed mischievous yet also psychopathic but had an amount of charming in it. Charles loved that smile and the look in the eyes as if he was his world – which was true. Though Erik can’t say it out loud. After all, they had been friends for almost two months. A period of sexual suffering, according to Azazel.

“So is Raven okay with you coming here instead of celebrating her new job?”

“She’s a grown-up. She doesn’t need her brother’s attention 24/7 and also I’m an adult-“

“ _Adult._ ” Erik mocked playfully.

“Cut it.” Charles pouted slightly as he hit Erik’s arm.

Erik loved when he pouted, being so cute yet his red sweet lips looked so inviting. He had to pull back to stand properly before he slipped into his subconscious mind and kiss the man without realizing it.

“Alright.” Erik raised his hands as a gesture of surrender.

He excused himself when a new customer approached him. He’d like to think that Charles was looking at every movement of him when he was working and finding him attractive. He knew he was attractive but compared to Charles’ beauty, he was not sure that his look was enough. Charles was the only guy he ever gives damn care about his attire, picking the different colour of outfit for every Wednesday night while any another day, he’d be wearing his burgundy or black turtleneck shirt.

No one can blame Erik for wanting to feel comfortable during the working hour but for Charles, his presence was enough to make the whole bar seemed like the home he lived with his mother back in Germany. Emma said he was deeply in love with the man and she was crazy. How can someone not being deeply in love with him when he was the most amazing human he ever met.

Okay, maybe Erik was _super_ in love with Charles but it was not like he minds the idea of it. He just wanted them to date or having dinner before he could jump to move in together.

“I’m back.” Erik announced himself after he served a few customers.

Charles nodded, fidgeting on his seat as he played with the still-full-glass of scotch.

“What’s wrong?” Erik wondered.

“Urm, nothing. Are you … perhaps, free this Friday evening?”

Erik almost lost his attention on Charles when he nibbled his lower red lip with his teeth, making it look a little bit plum.

“Oh- urm… Well, I promised Janos that I took over his shift that day. Why?” Erik was curious.

“Oh… Nothing, I was thinking- Nevermind. Anyway I gotta go-“

Erik looked at Charles who was rushing to leave, dropping a bill near the not-empty-glass of his scotch before he left the bar. It happened so quick that Erik did not get a second to process it which seemed like a cue for Emma to stroll over and being a little shinning silver-coloured devil.

“I can’t believe you said no.” Emma said, sending a disgusted look at him.

“What?” Erik blinked.

“Two months of courting and when he asked you out, you said no. This rom-com shit is not my cup of tea.” Emma rolled her eyes.

Charles asked him out?

…Wait, was that …

“Oh, fuck.” Erik cursed under his breath.

Emma snorted. “Can’t believe you’re this stupid.”

And Erik was indeed stupid.

Raven stormed into the Brotherhood Bar the next day, as soon as the sign turned from close to open because she has been waiting in front of the bar, tapping her expensive shoes on the bricked street with an unhappy look on her face.

 _Of course, she’s unhappy. You dumped her brother before you guys even dating._ Emma pointed it out as she and Erik were cleaning the bar, preparing for the evening.

“I can’t believe you did that!” Raven shouted loud enough that Azazel, a tough-looking man startled.

Erik rolled his eyes when Emma sent her I-told-you-so look but Raven misinterpreted that and thinking he was rolling eyes at her – which receiving a couple of hard smack of her expensive Chanel on his shoulder.

“Don’t. You. Give. Me. That. Look. Lehnsherr!”

“Ouch- that hurts!” Erik claimed. He wondered if she carried an encyclopaedia of fashion in that small bag.

“Good! You deserve it after making my brother cried.”

Oh shit.

“He cried?”

Erik who has been worrying over Charles over what had happened last night was getting even more worried. The idea of Charles locked himself in the room, cried in his bed under the blanket without getting a proper meal for a day. That did not sound good for Erik’s poor in-love heart.

“Well, yeah, _Romeo_. You got his hope hitched high up and dumped him when he had the balls to ask you out?” Raven blurted out his anger.

He heard the snickered and stifled laughter behind him. Emma and Azazel sure were going to have fun watching him suffer. Sometimes he wondered why he befriended Emma and Azazel in the first place.

 _Because we’re the only one who could tolerate your scary psychopathic stupid ass._ Something along that line which has become the answer to everything.

“I didn’t realize he was asking me out.” Erik blurted his thought before Raven bruises him up. “You know I would never say no to him.”

“Well, you did last night! I thought you’re supposed to be smart or engineers are dumb in human social interaction?”

“You’re right about that one, dear!” Emma cackled. Erik’s glare seemed ineffective.

“You gotta fix this, Lehnsherr.” Raven warned. “Or I would call his ex who, for your information, was still in love with him.”

Azazel’s whistle did not help. Not at all. Not even a bit.

“I will but can you at least give me his number?”

Raven gapped at his question. “Are you… are you fucking serious- You had that chance for two months!”

Erik ignored the laughter behind him when Raven continued to assault him. He definitely can’t blame anyone but himself.

Erik was not a social person. He pretty much established that and had become his identity. So when it comes to planning an event or even as small as a date, Erik – in the perfect the word – sucks at it. He would ask for help but his traitor friends refused and even Charles’ friends, Hank and Moira avoid from talking to him.

 _Hey, you fuck it. You fix it, man._ Sean, Moira’s boyfriend, said.

So Erik did what he does the best.

Charles sighed.

He was feeling extra tired that day after he bawled his eyes out for almost 2 days yesterday. He sure was not emotionally good enough to teach his students but he was not sure that was a solid reason to take a leave. Besides, he promised them to help with their papers so he can bail out like a stupid person. He made himself stupid enough by asking Erik out on a date. He knew he was not misinterpreting things wrongly but maybe Charles was not hot enough for Erik.

Maybe he was not his type.

Charles groaned at the thought of not being the one for Erik because he had spent an amazing time with the tall guy. It felt like he has found the missing piece of his scenery gigantic puzzle he used to love or the chess set he had at his apartment. Erik would be completing his chess set which had lost a black knight when he was a kid. Guess he had to keep that one spot empty for a longer period.

A sudden knock on the door brought Charles back to his office. Probably another student of his, he asked them to come in but they did. Thinking they could not hear him due to his hoarse voice – the effect of crying, he lost his sweet honey voice – Charles dragged himself to the door. Expecting a student, he was surprised to see nothing behind the door but a small white pawn hanging by a white thread in front of his eyes. He grabbed the pawn and saw a small folded paper hidden underneath.

_Moved 2 box front_

“What…?” Charles did not get it.

He squinted his eyes to see if there was anything – another dangling piece of chess – upfront. He saw another white piece on top of his new TA table. A bishop with the same folded paper hidden underneath.

_Moved diagonally out of the Columbia_

Instructions. It was an instruction, asking him to head somewhere. Charles wondered if he forgot his own birthday or was this some sort of game his friends or sister could be having without him knowing. Without asking much, he did as what written on the paper with two white pieces in his cardigan’s pocket. Another piece was sitting on top of the bush at the entrance of the university – a white knight.

_Crossed the street like jumping over a pawn and went right to the further till you found another one_

“Huh.” Charles chuckled.

He was intrigued so he followed – crossed the road and turned right, continued walking until he found another white pawn stuck on the traffic light pole.

_Moved 2 box front. Be careful when you cross._

It sounded familiar. Too familiar but Charles refused to hope. He did not want to spend his weekend crying again although he had planned his weekend to do so. He found another one stuck on the traffic light pole on the other side of the road – a white queen.

_Moved diagonally to the bar we always meet_

Hope.

Charles was hoping too loud but his fear appeared at the same height. What if he wanted to apologize yet nothing more? Or worse, he did not want Charles to expect something from him. Honestly, he did not know what to think so he went straight to the Brotherhood Bar.

“The sooner this over, the better.” Charles said despite he wanted to run or Earth to swallow him. Whichever came first.

But when Charles let himself into the bar, expecting the usual amount of customers since it was Friday evening, it was empty. There were no customers and not even a waitress – he did not see Emma in her silver outfit as usual. There was just Erik standing – no, leaning against the bar where he used to stand behind it, smiling at him carefully as if Charles was going to break.

Well, he was almost at the edge of his tears.

“What is this?” Charles finally found his voice to ask.

“A sorry-date?” Erik winced at his own answer.

“For what?”

“For saying no. I didn’t realize that you’re asking me out.” Erik carefully flashed his grin but leaning towards apologetic one.

Charles snorted. “I thought it was obvious.”

“And Raven thought I was supposed to be smart.”

“You are smart.”

Erik’s tense stature finally relax when he saw the softened look on Charles' face.

“Apparently I’m not when I said no to you.”

Erik carefully made his way towards Charles, standing in close proximity with him without touching an inch of the beautiful man in front of him despite the messy brown hair wanted to be patted, the swollen eyes needed to be pecked and the gorgeous red lips required to be kissed.

“I’m sorry.” Erik said.

“It’s okay. You can say no if you’re not interested. I don’t-“

“Well, that’s the problem.”

Charles looked up into his eyes and Erik was gathering his strength from drowning in that blue eyes.

“I wanted to say yes. It’s just that Janos had a doctor appointment and he was a friend.”

Charles chuckled. “I guess he was very important that your friend, Azazel decided to close the bar tonight.”

“Yeah.” Erik smiled. “And he kinda owed me one.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Erik felt a bit relieved when Charles smiled.

“It is.”

Erik carefully reached his hand down to hold onto Charles. He could hear a small gasp when he was intertwining their fingers together.

“But it’s not just my fault, you know.”

Charles cocked his eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

“I mean, we’re always on a date every Wednesday. I didn’t think that you thought so low of me.” Erik smirked.

“What… That wasn’t a date!” Charles shrieked.

“Then what is it?”

Charles was about to answer but he swallowed it down and let his face becoming red, feeling embarrassed.

“It’s not fair, you know.” Erik smiled as he leaned down. “When you’re this pretty and so damn smart, it made me lose self-control from the moment I landed my eyes on you.” Erik said.

His lips were so close to Charles, he could feel his hot breath on his skin. His eyes kept moving from Charles’ unmoving red lips to the shining blue eyes.

“Well…” Charles breathed out. “Then don’t.”

Charles was being grateful that Erik got his signal when he wrapped his arms around Charles and pulled him into a heated kiss. Charles moaned as he was melting in their kiss while Erik was nothing but too eager for everything.

It ended well.

Azazel did not need to know what they did in the bar though he and Emma could guess it. Raven was feeling too proud that her Chanel bag had saved their relationship while Sean high-fived Erik when Moira was glaring at him the whole time but Erik did not mind.

He had Charles in his arms, snoring cutely on his chest as they cuddled in Erik’s small apartment as their glasses of wine were left unattended and chess game was uncompleted as they were side-tracked in the middle of the game. Although, their chess set finally had a black knight.

While the extra pieces Erik had – the ones that were not used as part of his sorry event and a black knight – were thrown into the storeroom of the bar.

In case Erik messed up again.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah... This could be a series.


End file.
